Cables & Accessories

Touchy, feely
The new Apple iPod Touch is incredibly slick and capable of doing some remarkable things, but is it really hi-fi? asks Ed Selley
Launched in September, the 4th generation iPod Touch builds on the facilities of the previous models, but is still most easily explained as the screen, processor and basic design of the iPhone, without the ability to make and receive phone calls.
The path of the original iPod (which is now referred to as the Classic) from curio to hi-fi accessory has been a long one and the sheer numbers of docks available (some of which are iPod transports able to extract a digital signal directly from the iPod) are turning it into a hand-held music server. But do the extra features of the Touch make any difference in this context and do they affect the audio performance on the move?
Mind-boggling
The features the Touch offers are impressive. The unit tested here is a 32Gb (eight and 64Gb versions are also available) ‘multimedia platform’, able to replay audio and video.

As the latest addition to a range of stereo interconnects from Atlas, the Equator Integra makes use of the same OCC copper conductors that are used with its higher-end cables. The central conductor is insulated with a PEF (foamed polyethylene) dielectric and is double screened to minimise RFI. The white pearlescent sheath makes the cable quite chunky, but reasonably flexible.

Cartridge upgrader
Here's a novel way to enhance your cartridge's performance. Richard Black checks out Audio-Technica’s new MC transformer
Moving-coil cartridges are wonderful things, but they suffer from a disadvantage in their extremely low output, often less than 1mV peak, or one two-thousandth of what most CD players produce. Clearly, low-noise amplification is a must. Because they have a low impedance, the self-noise of such cartridges is actually very low, but getting an amplifier to match or (ideally) better it is hard work.

In common with the Rocket 11 loudspeaker cable (HFC 440), the Rocket 22 uses two pairs of conductors per channel, which allows both pairs to be wired in parallel for conventional ‘full range’ wiring, or each pair to be connected separately for bi-wiring. The conductors are made from a combination of the company’s Long-Grain Copper (LGC) and Perfect-Surface Copper (PSC). The LGC and PSC wire is laid out in a ‘true-concentric’ configuration. This means that each layer of strands in a concentric conductor is spiralled in the opposite direction from the one below.

Follow the A1
Dominic Todd gets acquainted with legendary headphone manufacturer Beyerdynamic's high-performance A1 headphone amp
he mission for Beyer’s A1 is all about bringing wideband audio to the headphone enthusiast. The entire circuit has been designed to transmit 96kHz signals, making it ideal for SACD, DVD-Audio or other high-resolution audio formats. Against its rivals, who often seek a mellifluous, valve-like sound, the Beyerdynamic A1 has studio-like neutrality as its design concept. In a similar vein, the A1 is styled for practicality rather than flamboyancy.

Digital Delight
Cambridge Audio delivers pure digital audio from iPods, iPhones and now the iPad through the new iD100 says Malcolm Steward
The home office hi-fi looks rather swish right now with an Apple iPad sitting atop the rack proudly displaying some attractive album artwork – the gifted bassist, Tal Winkenfeld’s Transformation. However, this not a review of the iPad, but the rather neat little digital dock upon which it rests: the Cambridge Audio iD100.
The iD100 will operate with various iPods, iPhones and the iPad, from which it will extract a pure digital output that it then delivers to a stand-alone DAC or the digital input on your amplifier (if it has one) for maximum performance. Pure digital out from the iPod/ iPhone/iPad is definitely the way to go for the best sound quality.

Made from 3 x 14 AWG high-purity multi-strand copper conductors with a parallel conductor layout, the Shawline has PVC internal and external insulation along with a high mechanical damping factor. Surrounding the conductors is a dual-layer high-frequency braid and foil combination shield. The cable is finished off with an elegant grey high-density vibration-damping outer jacket.
The supply end is terminated with a 13A UK mains plug fitted with a 13A fuse and a 13 or 16A IEC plug at the other end.

Portable perfection
Richard Black discovers an exciting and unique proposition – a high-resolution portable player/recorder with upsampling and a built-in DAC
Including, but by no means limited to, the various iPod models, there are currently dozens of portable music players out there – hundreds if you include mobile phones, most of which have some kind of music-playing capability. Many of them give very decent results, but they’re not really Hi-Fi with capital letters: commodity consumer electronics, more like.
True audiophile
The Colorfly is something a bit different. It’s a portable music player all right, but it’s aimed fair and square at the true audiophile, the individual who owns a carefully selected system of high-quality components and a decent library of recordings.

Designed as a means of keeping your stylus clean, be it on a DS Audio cartridge or something a little more prosaic, the ST-50 comprises a thin sheet of Urethane protected by a smart metal tin.
It may look like an unusual way of removing dirt from a stylus, but the principle is simple enough: place the ST-50 on your platter and lower your cartridge on and off the sheet of polymer a few times so that its sticky nature will pull away any unwanted debris from the tip of the stylus. If the polymer starts to look dirty, you can simply rinse it off under a tap, leave it to dry on a clean surface and it will be good to go again.
As well as looking smart, the housing tin does a good job of keeping the polymer free from collecting debris when it’s not in use.

Get into the groove
Jason Kennedy is a sucker for the latest sub-£500 vacuum vinyl-cleaning system from ‘Chi-fi’ analogue specialist Hanss
Hanss Acoustics is a Chinese firm with a penchant for all things ‘vinyl’. It has some pretty impressive turntables and a rather good phono stage in its range, so the debut of this innovative and attractive record cleaner was only to be expected.
A curvy box built out of extruded aluminium, the RC20 is significantly less imposing than the competition, yet it offers much the same spinning and sucking abilities – skills that are intrinsic in the pursuit of vinyl freshening. It doesn’t offer the cleaning thread found on Keith Monks machines, but neither does it cost that sort of money.

Manufactured from solid oak, the Omnium8 is available in several standard configurations that should cover most hi-fi setups. The Latin-sounding name means ‘all-inclusive’ while the 8 is a nod to the number of key features within the design, which can be mixed and matched as required.

For those that like a solid silver tonearm cable, the Silver Melody 1. 5 is screened and fitted with a quality carbon fibre-finished connector as standard or with a 90° connector as an alternative option. At the amplifier end it is terminated with KLEI Absolute Silver Harmony RCA plugs (HFC 391), which have a solid silver earth connection and a thick silver plating on the signal pin.

There is 50 percent more silver used in the Silver Melody 2. 5 compared with the company’s original Melody 2 tonearm cable. The solid wire conductors are made from 99. 99 percent silver and insulated with the company’s dielectric material.